Town Square

12-foot cross vandalized

Original post made
on Nov 20, 2008

A 12-foot wooden cross on the property of R. Roman, was chopped down sometime between the evening of Nov. 6 and 7. The Happy Valley resident said it was on a hill and visible from northbound Interstate 680 at the Sunol Boulevard exit.

Posted by annoyed
a resident of another community
on Nov 20, 2008 at 7:02 pmannoyed is a registered user.

How very SAD that in the current state of our Country and the economy as a whole, anyone would find the need to destroy the property of others, especially a symbol of STRENGTH to those of us who BELIEVE in a higher being.

I feel sorry for the person(s) who felt the need to destroy the hope of others - SHAME ON YOU.

Good to see our local news outlet cover the story with a total of six sentences. Somehow I think if it were the symbol of another religion it would have been all over the news. Perhaps with the tag line "HATE CRIME." But its 'only' Christianity, so its no big deal...

Posted by Samantha
a resident of Del Prado
on Nov 21, 2008 at 10:55 am

Chas-

How much more information are you looking for? There isn't much more for them to give. There were tire tracks, no other problems, this is where it is located. I would imagine if the police had more information, it would have been 7 sentances long. I doubt the coverage has anything to do with the religion but rather the information that they have. You can only write with what you have.

Posted by Alison
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 21, 2008 at 11:01 am

No one should vandalize other people's property, so I'm sorry for the owner of that cross
I'm glad you all have positive associations with a cross. I don't. Huge crosses make me think of the Ku Klux Klan. They make me think of Catholic priests, not all of whom are bad, but even the good ones look the other way and let children and women be hurt. They make me think of the way Chrisianity has been pushed on people in poor countries,(who had their own religion), tied to their receiving of food, medicine and shelter. Helping people is great, making them give up their religion for yours as a means to get it is morally wrong. Crosses don't make me feel good, and that's not Jesus Christ's fault.

Posted by pat
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 21, 2008 at 7:54 pm

Allison........geez do you really "think" (??think??) that way. You sound like some bleeding heart anti anything Christian who FEELS" more than they think. Of course its probably not your fault that you can't think. Let me guess...you were educated in our public school system w/ books that embraced secularism and paints any Christian as evil.

Posted by Anonymous
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 22, 2008 at 7:14 pm

I think it's irrelevant *what* was chopped down. The point is that someone trespassed and vandalized someone's property. Insulting one another on this board about religious beliefs has nothing to do with the fact that trespassing and vandalizing are illegal.

It's about time somebody took down that awful cross. As you know, Jesus forgives everybody so I would say that it's time to move on in the spirit of the season. Forgiveness is in the air...hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha

Posted by PJ
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 23, 2008 at 10:40 pm

Here's an excerpt from the Patrick family article:

California penal code defines a hate crime to be "a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of one or more of the following actual or perceived characteristics of the victim: 1. disability, 2. gender, 3. nationality, 4. race or ethnicity, 5. religion, 6. sexual orientation, 7. association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics."

The code further describes it to be unlawful to threaten, force, injure, intimidate a person, or deface or damage real or personal property because of the "perceived characteristics."

Posted by Annoyed
a resident of another community
on Nov 24, 2008 at 9:05 pm

It is quite SAD once again, that some people find the need to abuse an open forum for thoughtful insight by consistantly using this as a personal forum for their own view points. Whether these views be right or wrong (which no earthly human knows) they are simply an "opinion" - something we all have. Some of us are just more respectful than others.

Being this is the PLEASANTON WEEKLY (I am a 34 yr resident)- why does every forum have comments of the personal opinions of a Livermore resident trying to insight anger. Have you no life? Try helping others in need, you will no doubt have a better outlook and respect for life but also gain more respect for others.

I am pleased to see so many people saddened by this act, and not just because of the act but because of the *what* was involved in this act...It's a *Cross*...a symbol of sacrifice for EVERYONE'S salvation.

To so many of us it is the most sacred and holy symbol there is and is there to remind us of that salvation that is available to ALL...

Lets not hate but know that someone "got it" and wanted everyone else to "get it" - so they want to display a symbol of that in the biggest most visual way possible. May GOD BLESS us and this community.

Posted by John Zukoski
a resident of Dublin
on Nov 26, 2008 at 9:51 pm

How sad is it that the cross was sawed down the day before Thanksgiving - the Pilgrims' holiday? What kind of society are we living in where the Holy Cross is sawed down in plain view? Regardless of belief, how can we tolerate this kind of intolerance?

Posted by Annoyed
a resident of another community
on Nov 27, 2008 at 11:45 amAnnoyed is a registered user.

Cholo,

Vandilism is a crime - regardless of what the object may be. Enforcement of the law does not require an amendment to the Constitution. Someone as knowledgable as yourself should know this. By your response you are only showing your ignorance. I will pray for you though I doubt it will do any good.

Posted by Qwerty
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 30, 2008 at 10:30 pm

Any kind of blatant vandalism such as this, whether of a religious symbol or not is unacceptable. Furthermore, it is sad that people feel the need to turn this into a religious discussion with rude comments.
Whether this were a Christian symbol, a Jewish symbol or a Muslim one, the reaction should be the same. It's not a nice thing to do.

I feel bad for the people who view the cross negatively. Sure, unpleasant things have been done in the name of religion, but there are plenty of good things that have whether it be in the christian, jewish or muslim faiths. It is unfortunate that people will let some negative events overwhelm them to the point where the overlook the good that has been done.